Gregory Canyon landfill wins county approval

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PALA  A long-sought permit to build a landfill in Gregory Canyon near Pala in rural North County has been approved by the county.

The decision by the county Department of Environmental Health, the agency charged with granting solid-waste permits, culminates an eight-year effort to obtain permission to construct the dump — but the decision is still subject to final approval from a state agency, and several other key permits have yet to be granted, including one from the federal government, which likely won’t make a final decision until next year.

Nevertheless, the decision is a milestone for Gregory Canyon Ltd., the development company that has spent more than $60 million in a nearly two-decade-long effort to build the 308-acre dump. It would be south of state Route 76 and about three miles east of Interstate 15. The landfill would be built within a 1,770-acre parcel south of the San Luis Rey River in a canyon next to Gregory Mountain, which the Pala Indians consider sacred.

The remaining acreage would stay as open space.

Attorney Everett DeLano, a longtime opponent, said the decision didn’t surprise him, but he still believes the landfill will never be built.

“The project ... poses a lot of problems for the environment, the river and the tribal interests,” he said.

In his decision, DEH Director Jack Miller said the benefits of the project “outweigh and override” the unavoidable effects it would have on the environment.

He said the landfill would provide additional disposal capacity for the county; would increase competition among disposal sites and reduce waste fees; would incorporate an enhanced liner system that might set a higher standard for landfill liners; and would provide open space preservation beyond what is legally required.

Gregory Canyon Ltd. says the dump would be built in a way that ensures that the river and ground water would always be safe.

Nancy Chase, Gregory Canyon Ltd. spokeswoman, said Gregory Canyon “is the most studied project of its kind in state history.”

Opponents fear that some day, maybe hundreds of years from now, the landfill would leak toxins into the ground and eventually into the river. It’s an environmental disaster waiting to happen, they say.

If built, the dump would take trash for 30 years. Opponents say there is no longer a need for another dump in the county since so much of household trash now is recycled or disposed of in ecologically friendly ways. They fear that instead of being used for North County trash, the landfill would become a dumping ground for areas north of the county.

Proponents say the need still exists, and the long-term future must not be ignored.

Unlike most decisions outside municipal boundaries, the county’s Board of Supervisors has no say in what happens.

In 1994, voters approved, 68 percent to 32 percent, Proposition C, the Gregory Canyon Landfill and Recycling Collection Center Ordinance. The vote amended the county’s general plan and zoning ordinance to allow a landfill without a major-use permit, thereby streamlining the project approval and removing the supervisors from the decision making.

Another effort to stop the landfill is under way in Sacramento. Senate Bill 833 would ban the landfill because of its potential effects on the San Luis Rey River, groundwater and sacred Indian sites. The county Board of Supervisors earlier this week voted 4-1 to oppose the bill, saying they were outraged that the state was trying to intervene in local affairs and circumvent two public votes. The granting of the permit should have no effect on the proposed legislation, officials say.